Ben Wheatley is a versatile director who will try his hand in any genre. This is not a guy who wants to be pigeonholed.
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead comes across as a modern Play for Today with Mike Leigh type improvisation. It was even co-produced by BBC Films.
The film aims to be Festen but is nowhere near as good.
I expected a dark tragicomedy and this fell way short. Maybe there was not enough time or money to work out the story.
Wheatley regular Neil Maskell is Colin Burstead who for various reasons is hosting a grand New Year's Eve party for his extended family at a country mansion that he has hired.
Colin believes in the importance of the family but yet seems impatient when they arrive. His demeanour is that of a man who is certainly not looking for a good time.
His dad is in financial trouble because he has lost money on a business venture. Colin gets upset when his philandering younger brother shows up, a man who abandoned his wife and kids.
Somewhere in here is a morality tale about broken, brexit Britain. I did not find it.
Happy New Year, Colin Burstead comes across as a modern Play for Today with Mike Leigh type improvisation. It was even co-produced by BBC Films.
The film aims to be Festen but is nowhere near as good.
I expected a dark tragicomedy and this fell way short. Maybe there was not enough time or money to work out the story.
Wheatley regular Neil Maskell is Colin Burstead who for various reasons is hosting a grand New Year's Eve party for his extended family at a country mansion that he has hired.
Colin believes in the importance of the family but yet seems impatient when they arrive. His demeanour is that of a man who is certainly not looking for a good time.
His dad is in financial trouble because he has lost money on a business venture. Colin gets upset when his philandering younger brother shows up, a man who abandoned his wife and kids.
Somewhere in here is a morality tale about broken, brexit Britain. I did not find it.